Free Salt by Colin F. Barnes Page A

behind Frank’s assassination attempt. If you’re saying this American figure isn’t real and you didn’t order the hit, then why the hell did Frank try to put a gaff hook into my back?”
    “Okay,” Graves said, leaning forward, clasping his hands together, locking his fingers and tapping his thumbs. “Here’s the deal. We spring Frank to somewhere safe where we can all have a chat. I’ll make sure we get the truth out of him. Then we deal with Faust.”
    “If I agree to this, I want Faust removed my way.”
    Graves shrugged. “Sure, no skin off my nose. You say how, and it’ll be done. But not until Frank’s handed over.” Graves unclasped his hands and held out his right hand, palm open. “We got a deal?”
    “Deal,” Jim said, shaking his hand.
    As though timed to strike the deal, a flash of lightning lit up the dark skies outside through the porthole, freeze-framing Graves’ satisfied grin.

Chapter 9
    Eva took a sip from her flask and washed down the starchy potato soup. She admired the ingenuity of the men and women who had managed to dredge for dirt and make it suitable for growing vegetables. They had found boxes of seeds on one of the container ships. So far, they’d managed to grow potatoes, tomatoes, and in the hull of a shipwrecked trawler they’d even grown mushrooms. Made a nice change from fish. Although from now on she’d take great delight in eating the pan-fried shark steak.
    Danny finished his meal and sat on the bed with his head buried in a comic.
    Ade sat opposite Eva, his long arms resting on the dining table. “He’s not coming,” he said.
    “He’ll come, just relax.”
    Duncan was one of the few people she had learned she could rely on. He was the rock of that place. Hardly ever fazed or fussed, he just got on with things, full of optimism. She could really do with a dose of that right now.
    She squeezed the flotation ball attached to the key, wondering where on this floating city it would take her. The key was thick and strong with a square edge. Modern-looking, she thought. Perhaps a safe or some expensive padlock. If anyone knew where the key would fit, it was Duncan. He’d been here since day one, along with Jim, building the flotilla, capturing boats that drifted by, pulling them in with ropes and hooks.
    “Hey, you wanted to see me?”
    She saw his great beard before his face as Duncan leaned in through the door.
    “I’ve got something for you, Dan,” Duncan said, walking across the cabin until he towered over the boy. He passed him a small cardboard box. Danny opened the lid. The succulent, spicy smell of barbecued gull wafted around the room, making her potato soup suddenly seem unfulfilling.
    “Wow, thanks, Duncan,” Danny said, grabbing the meat and biting a section off the breast. Grease dripped down his chin as he devoured the meat.
    “Sorry I didn’t get back to you in time before you left. You scared the hell out of me,” Duncan said. “Here, take this. If you ever go for a walk, stay in touch.” He handed Danny a two-way radio. “You know how to use one of these?”
    Danny nodded.
    “Good lad, keep it on channel 19, okay?”
    Duncan turned to face Eva and Ade, sitting at the head of the dining table, dwarfing it with his great chest and thick arms. “So,” he said, his voice low, “what’s this all about? Aren’t you supposed to be working on the desalinators with Stanic, Ade?”
    The South African nodded. “I’m on my way, man, but we needed to speak to you first. We found something. We need your expertise.”
    Duncan’s bushy eyebrows rose. “Oh?”
    Eva opened her hand and showed him the key. “We need to know what this is for. Do you recognise it?”
    Duncan took the key, examined it closely, and ran his fingers across the surface. “Where’d you get this?”
    Ade was about to say something when Eva cut him off, “I found it. It’s not really important where or how. I just need to know if you know what it is and where it might